Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday R!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Birthday_candles.jpg



Today is our little R's Birthday. I don't plan on doing anything big with him. I am just going to make cupcakes and let the boys get all sugarfied. I feel kind of bad that we are not having a big party for him, I mean Harry had a huge party, We had a party for Lee lee... With this one maybe because we haven't had him very long, or maybe because I am still over whelmed from Harry's party... I just don't feel motivated to do anything big! I think that I will just hug him longer and snuggle him, and give him a cupcake!
I am falling in love with this little one. His home life is quite sad.Ugh trust me it would break your heart.
 Since he is now one we put him in daycare. I have been able to get so much done today with only Harry. It has been nice but I keep thinking that there is a baby crying in the background. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Half a month into it

I can't believe that we have already been foster parents for half a month already. Time is definitely speeding up having 2 extra children in our home. But our laundry is also doubling and the dishes! But I am learning to cope. I am actually going to put the little one in daycare full time once he turns one. I really think that I need the extra time as well as having the one on one time with Harrison. Harry has really been acting out not having all the attention on him. I think that it has been good for him to have the other children around, I guess they call it socialization ;)

But because of all these new children in our home we have also had a lot of new germs come into our home. We all suffered through the stomach bug last week, that wasn't fun. Thankfully that is over. I haven't been sick like that in a while. And Harry is so sheltered that he never gets sick. Anyways, this is helping me to keep the kids hands clean and not let them share anything that they might swap germs on.

I sometimes feel like I am nuts, but am totally relying on God to get me through each day!

Jen

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Changes get better with a schedule

So since we got Chase we have had 3 other children come into our home! We had another 4 year old who was just a respite, so we knew we wouldn't have him very long (3 days). Then we got an emergency placement of a 7 month old. At first I jumped on this because I was soo excited to get a baby in our home again, but I forgot how much work they are and how much sleep you lose. I could have done it if I didn't have 3 other children in my home. He was moved to a home that is closer to his other siblings which are up in the center of the state. It worked out.(we had him 2 nights) Then we got our one year old. He is a great little guy but likes you to be in the same room as him and freaks out if he can't see you. Understandable but hard to get anything done. So at the moment we have C our 4 year old, Harry my 2 year old, and then R our very soon to be 1 year old. All boys!

My house has changed a lot, first of all these little guys brought a ton of stuff with them! That isn't normal, normally they come with a few things and you need to provide the rest. So this is nice but man I already had a bunch of crap toys. The laundry has exploded and there are 3 different sizes. I am doing the cloth diapering so that is a constant chore. I stopped for a couple days because we had a bout of diarrhea and I wasn't able to keep up with that. TMI sorry.

But things are not as chaotic as I would have thought, I don't have kids running around breaking everything in site, they are not fighting bed time. I really have been strict with a nap, eat, bedtime schedule. I think that is the only thing that has helped this house run. The littles know what is coming so they don't get upset.

There might be a possibility of taking on an 8 year old little girl. She had a liver replacement a little while ago, sad I know :( She has recently gotten sick and needs to be in a home that can care and monitor her. I am not sure all the details of this but she is on 10+ meds a day! My heart really goes out to her. Can you imagine going through this and not having your mommy or daddy to help you go through it!

So change is a constant in my home these days, but I am hoping that there will be a settling of the dust soon.

Jen

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Full house

Wow . . . in 24 hours I went from 1 crazy little 2 year old. To having one 2 year old and two 4 year olds. My house turned into a loud messy place but I am happy. We have been waiting to have foster kids since we closed our house over 2 years ago. I just know that we are called to do this. It isn't easy. There are many parts of this I don't feel capable doing but I am doing it and I just need to not worry about tomorrow or the next kid.
I easily get overwhelmed thinking about the fact that I have a house full of kids! Or will have a baby who may wake up at all hours of the night or might through Harry for a loop because he won't be the baby anymore.

Oh Lord, give me strength!

But anyhow, Right now I have Harry and Chase in one room and V in the other room. But on Friday I will have R the soon to be 1 year old in that room, and V is going back with his foster family. Since I know that Chase will be with us for a while I think that it is good that he and Harry become buddies.


Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The adventure has begun . . .

 I have 2 boys, 2 sons! Just so you know I take this job as a foster parent seriously. I want every child that comes into my home to feel like they are loved, wanted, and special. Today at 4:30 we got our 4 year old C. I am going to call him Chase. (Obviously that it not his real name, I am not allowed to share that or a picture of him . . . sorry) We have only had this little guy for a few hours and I already want to keep him! There is just something about knowing where they came from and how you can change that instantly and just love love love them!! This little boy is a sweetie! He has a beautiful smile with a gap between his teeth! He has the light brown eyes that disappear when he smiles! I have tried to make him smile a lot.
Harry is still warming up to him, he is acting quite jealous. I have a feeling that they are going to be fast buddies! I asked Chase if he wanted to sleep in a room by himself or in Harry's room, he picked with Harry. I think they talked for about 30 minutes before Chase passed out. Harry was still talking, I think trying to wake him up. The morning should be interesting. I think that C will wake up early because he is used to going to Daycare. Harry, bless him, sleeps until 9:30. I hope that we can keep that going!

The adventure has begun!